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This Grady Hendrix short story is part of the Creature Feature series. The idea here is better than the execution � the boogie man is real, and seems to be inherited through certain family lines, he will snatch and eat you if you don’t follow the rules, and because that monstrous idea cannot be accepted, someone has to take the fall and pay the price to the penal system. That’s a great, fresh take on the old standard trope.

There were a couple of problems with the execution. The reveal of the monster came too close to the beginning of the story, and Hendrix let us get a direct look at it (or at least it’s appendages). I suspect he did this because he wanted to focus the real horror on how the young protagonist is swallowed up in an impersonal justice system, or the doubt in his mind that perhaps he’s insane and truly guilty after all. But the horror of the actual monster reveal felt rushed, and the rest didn’t deliver enough punch.

Three stars for a great idea with potential. I think it needed more space than the short story format afforded, and would like to see this one expanded into a novel.